Mayor of drought-stricken town unworried by water restrictions

Williams Mayor John Moore talks with Mac and Gaydos about Williams' water restrictions.

PHOENIX — For one northern Arizona mayor, water restrictions are just par for the course.

“We live in the southwest. We know what it is to be short on water and all of our folks that live here know what it’s like to be short on water,” Mayor John Moore told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Mac and Gaydos on Monday.

Restaurant patrons no longer get served an automatic glass of water and residents cannot use their hoses.

“We’ve put what we call Number 4 restrictions, which are probably the most severe we have,” he said. “You can’t water your lawns, you can’t use any excess water and we ask people to conserve their water. If you don’t need it, don’t use it.”

Even water for swimming pools has to be purchased and transported from outside Williams.

Moore said the last time he saw a water restriction this severe was 10 to 15 years ago but he said he residents are handling the situation very well.

“We don’t anticipate nor have we had many people violate the ordinances,” said Moore.

The City of Williams is currently working on installing two wells, but they are not yet able to take the next step.

“We’ve had a company doing research and we haven’t gotten the report back yet. We expect that in later this week or next week, probably,” he explained. “We also have an existing well that we’re going to start pumping water out of in a couple weeks to determine how much water is usable water.”